Boliden chooses Sherpas and SharePoint Online

Boliden is the Nordic industry leader in sustainable metal production, from finds to recycling of used metal. About 6,000 employees work at the company's mines, concentrators and smelters in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Ireland.

When they decided to introduce a new intranet, they chose Sherpas and SharePoint Online.

Read more below:

Background

Boliden is a global company with employees in many locations around the world. With offices in many locations in Europe, a goal of the project was to build a common sense of belonging and a platform where all employees can access internal news and tools for collaboration in one place. A scalable platform was therefore required for their new intranet that can also grow in step with the company.

 

As a provider of SharePoint and M365 services, Sherpas already had a good relationship with Boliden. The need for a new intranet and with the advantages of gathering the intranet under the same roof as the existing server solution (SharePoint Server 2013), SharePoint Online was a perfect choice of platform. It is a flexible tool suitable for working in different time zones. SharePoint Online is also very user-friendly and has many options for adaptation to meet the company's needs and requirements.

 

- SharePoint Online has grown in popularity as a communication platform in recent years and has a much more user-focused approach. We were keen to take advantage of these new features and the new modern website features for this project, says Fredrik Björkander, Project Manager at Sherpas.

 

SharePoint Online has several technical and cost advantages. It was also beneficial for the intranet to follow Microsoft's user experience layout and strategy. The new modern team and communication sites have a responsive design and a much cleaner user interface. Most importantly, it provides an intuitive experience for both content creators and tool users.

Challenges

  • Offices and workplaces in multiple countries and business areas have made it difficult to consistently build a strong sense of community and identity.

  • Many different working methods in different workplaces have historically made it difficult to find a solution that suits everyone.

Goal

  • To develop a central channel for internal communication and collaboration for all employees within Boliden.

  • That each unit should be able to use its own working methods but gather in the same channel to strengthen the common identity and purpose.

  • To build a scalable solution where Boliden can easily manage a growing intranet with a strong and consistent identity.

Solutions

  • A modern intranet based on SharePoint Online.

  • A combination of consulting, migration, training and targeted custom development services to empower users to create consistent pages.

  • Show Boliden's staff how to get the most out of SharePoint's functions out-of-the-box for maximum value.

Users first

A challenge in the project was to find an optimal approach that partly enabled each department to continue working in the way that suited them, while allowing all teams to gather the same platform. Typically, a "top-down" approach is taken with SharePoint. However, it risks leading to a lack of ownership and a sense of a system imposed on users.

 

After several workshops, Sherpas recommended a flat approach, which is also Microsoft's recommended way of working with SharePoint Online. In this method, users are trained and given the opportunity to create their own pages based on authorization and functions within the organization. The owners of these pages may request that their content be promoted in communication streams shared within the organization. The owners of the shared communication flows can in turn request that their content be marketed at a central level, so-called "Hubs".

 

A consistent brand

To ensure this, Sherpas developed templates and scripts to automatically apply Boliden's visual identity when a new page is created. Because SharePoint enables the creation of pages on demand, users are able to build their own pages using the tools they need. The new hub sites in SharePoint Online help by providing a navigation of communication flows on a global level. Being able to "enable for the user, not impose from IT" with Microsoft 365 means that the departments can work as they want, with support from IT departments within Boliden.

- We wanted to enable Boliden to get the maximum return from the tools available in their Microsoft 365 subscription through a combination of training, consulting and carefully tailored development, says Stefan Lundmark, SharePoint Architect at Sherpas.

 

Custom warning banners

At the same time that Boliden wanted to create a global experience, there was a need to communicate targeted content depending on geographic location. An example of such a solution is custom warning banners, produced by Sherpas. Developed using the latest tools for the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), these alert banners can display custom messages at any location that urgently needs to be communicated.

About Boliden

Boliden is a metal company with a focus on sustainable development. Their roots are Nordic and the market global. The core competencies are found in exploration, mines, smelters and metal recycling. Boliden has approximately 6,000 employees and a turnover of SEK 50 billion. The share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, segment Large Cap.

 

Read more about Boliden on their website

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